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ChinoLocoATO
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Name: David
Gender: Male
Interests: Reading
Expertise: General handyman - I'll make it work, dammit. No guarantee it'll work like its supposed to, but it'll work somehow.
Occupation: Military
Industry: Engineering
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/21/2004
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| I am sitting outside a MWR facility in Camp Lejeune, NC using the wireless internet accessible here. It is 18 February, 2007, and it is the eve of my deployment to Iraq. Tomorrow morning my team will be getting on a plane and beginning a year long mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is kind of surreal, knowing that I will not be back on American soil for over a year, and the war that has occupied our lives since 2001 is no longer the domain of detached conversation. It is very real, especially since now I too have lost friends and acquaintances to the enemy. A lot of you reading this posting are friends of mine who have asked me why I've decided to join the Army and how I feel about going to Iraq. In some cases, I think the fact that I am in the Army has driven a wedge between us, since it is difficult for some of your to understand my motivations. So, today, I will try to put in as plain and understandable words the answers to those questions.
Why did I join the Army?
My family moved here to the United States when I was 2 months old. We arrived with next to nothing, but with the understanding that in the United States, hard work is rewarded, and opportunities abound. So, 23 years later, my father has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, we own a home in the Silicon Valley, my mother is studying to become a herbologist, I went to and graduated from UCLA, and my little brother is going to UC Berkeley. We live a comfortable life - some would even say a privileged one. None would have been possible without hard work, discipline, and most important, an environment that encourages and rewards such qualities. Where else, but the United States, could my family have gone from nearly nothing to what we have now? Therefore, in my eyes, I owe a debt to the United States, and the country that has provided my family with so much is worth serving and fighting for.
There are hundreds of thousands of young men and women (some as young as 17) who raise their right hand and volunteer to protect you, your family, your friends, and your neighbors. They know that they may die, and even so, they say the oath, endure incredible hardship, and give up years of their lives. These young men and women do not deserve lip service in "Support the Troops", or academic debates thousands of miles away from the bullets and the blood. What they deserve is more of the same - people willing to share in their hardship, willing to lead them conscienciously, willing to fight, laugh, and cry with them. I am not one to let someone else do my fighting for me, so I joined. I want to be alongside that 17 year old who has never voted but done more for the preservation of our national values than most people do in their entire lifetimes. It has been said that a man's worth is often not a measure of what he has accomplished or who he is, but dependent on the people he surrounds himself with. The most moral and honorable man, continuously identified with criminals and immoral men, will merely become "the guy who's friends with all those bad people." Therefore, I find myself in the best of company.
How do I feel about going to Iraq?
I think that the downfall of Saddam Hussein will ultimately be a good thing for Iraqis and a good thing for us. He was a cruel man who used chemical weapons on his own people, who would do anything to stay in power, who lived in opulence while his people starved and lived in poverty. Perhaps that's going too far back, though. No matter what our original intentions were in going into Iraq, we all know that the situation there has deteriorated, over three thousand American troops have died, and tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens have died as well. We owe it to the Iraqi people to help them regain their foothold and be able to take care of themselves. My mission is one of advising. My team of 12 men are going to be living in an Iraqi Police Station. We are going to advise the IPs on how to run their station, how to keep accountability of personnel, equipment, and weapons. We are going to go on patrols with them to keep their families, neighborhoods, towns, cities, and country safe from those who would do them harm. So, I believe that my mission in Iraq is worthy of my best effort, and I am excited to be helping a country and people with a long and storied history get back on their feet. Freedom is worth fighting for, wherever, whenever.
Does it suck that I will be away from my family and friends?
Of course. What kind of question is that? But that's why they call it "service". You are supposed to give more than you get. You are supposed to sacrifice, because if it was lucrative, then you'd merely be a mercenary, a gun for hire, and there is not much honor in that.
If you are reading this, wish me luck. | | |
| WE WON, BITCHES!!! WE WON!!! After 4 years of agony against the fucking bitches across town, on the eve of my deployment to Iraq, WE WON!!! That is all - I am forever happy...until next year. | | |
| | Currently Watching
Lucky Number Slevin
By Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Michael Rubenfeld, Peter Outerbridge, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Chamberlin, Dorian Missick, Mykelti Williamson, Scott Gibson, Daniel Kash, Dmitry Chepovetsky, Sam Jaeger, Danny Aiello, Oliver Davis (II), Corey Stoll, Howard Jerome, J.D. Jackson
see related |
For those of you considering buying your first home:
DON'T!!!
...hehe...unless you're willing to put up with a lot of pain and suffering along with the utter joy of owning your own little piece of earth. That is, finding a realtor, finding a house, choosing a house, negotiating with the seller, deciding on the final price, getting the house inspected, getting the faults fixed, choosing a mortgage option, finding homeowner's/flood/disaster insurance, buying the insurance, buying the mortgage, deciding on a closing date, closing, writing the closing check (aaaaah!), and finally, FINALLY moving in.
That's right, folks, I am two days from closing on my home, and it's GLORIOUS! Bittersweet would be a great word. | | |
| I have the privilege to be in a job that allows me to be touched by hundreds of heros every day. Every day I wake up and go to work, I serve alongside Americans who volunteered to do a job not many young folk are willing to do anymore. They're willing to miss Christmases, birthdays, barbeques on the Fourth of July. They sacrifice their health, their bodies, their innocence, and sometimes their lives to stand on that physical and moral ground that is America, and defend it. Many Soldiers aren't quite as idealistic as I am, and even if they are, they are rarely willing to express it, because it's not in style. Nonetheless, I am privileged and honored to serve with these everyday heros, but also to lead them into battle.
In the next couple of months I embark on the next big journey of my life - I will go to take leadership of an infantry platoon at Fort Stewart, and then I go to Iraq to fight those who would do Americans harm. I'm not going to lie - I'm nervous. Not so much about getting hurt, not so much about the heat, or the insurgents, or missing holidays with my family, because I feel I'll be in great company.
What I'm nervous about is failing to fulfill my end of the bargain. Soldiers join the Army because they want to serve, because they need the college money, because its been a family tradition, because they have nowhere else to go. But what they assume is that the Army will provide them good training - training that will save them in combat. It is implicit that the Army will give them good leaders to plan and execute that training - from the Drill Sergeant that welcomes them into the Army, to their fresh-faced Team Leader, to their experienced Squad Leader, to their grizzled Platoon Sergeant, all the way up to the Chief of Staff of the Army. And yes, they expect that their Platoon Leader will be the best the Army can offer.
So, that's the end of the bargain I have to keep. This 22-year old kid who remembers skiing down a backyard in Connecticut like it was yesterday is that Platoon Leader. A bit of responsibility, anyone? I ask myself the questions more frequently as my time comes closer. Will I do a good job? Will I make good decisions? Am I the man I need to be? Can I be the responsible leader that Soldiers look up to? Was I trained adequately? The uncertainty is killing me, and I am nervous beyond words. I'm a Ranger, supposedly a hardcore infantry leader, but right now, I don't feel quite like the Ranger I'm supposed to be.
Is it weakness? No, I don't think so. I'm as confident in my abilities as I was before, but I don't want to go in overconfident, and I will do my best to fulfill my end of the deal. You can be sure of that.
RLTW... | | |
|  | Currently Watching
Date Movie (Unrated Edition)
By Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell (IV), Sophie Monk, Eddie Griffin, Meera Simhan, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge, Marie Matiko, Judah Friedlander, Carmen Electra, Tony Cox, Mauricio Sanchez, Beverly Polcyn, Valery M. Ortiz, Charlie Dell, Dana Seltzer, Tom Lenk, Scott Bridges, Tom Fitzpatrick, Susse Budde
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Gary, Ron, and I were about done cleaning weapons today and just sitting outside the bay, doing what we do best - that is, BSing about all kinds of things. At one point, I was asked how I would set up an ambush on a lightpole located about a streetwidth from the building. I looked around real quick, looked up, and said "Hey, let's set up the ambush up on top of the building." Very natural, right? Well, guess what we did?
WE TRIED TO CLIMB THE BUILDING! Who does that?! Apparently Gary, Ron, and me. We actually got up probably about 8 or 9 feet of the 40 foot tall building, and we would have gone all the way if we hadn't decided that it would be a little unsafe. Honestly, I don't know where that came from, deciding to try to climb a building, but it was a great time. Next time you see a building and you just want to try to climb it, go ahead and try. It's fun.
In other news, I've been a commissioned officer for 13 months, and I am very nearly done with my individual training. The thing that sucks is that after being at Fort Benning since last November, I JUST starting meeting people other than the men I work with. So as soon as I form some new relationships, I'm going to get torn away to Savannah, and soon thereafter I'll be deployed. I guess I should get used to it, but well, I don't like it so much, 'specially since one person I met is pretty cool. Poop. | | |
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